IRT names Jessica Huang as the next James Still Playwright-in-Residence

IRT names Jessica Huang as the next James Still Playwright-in-Residence
 Huang will serve three-year tenure with focus on new play production

Indianapolis, Ind.— The Indiana Repertory Theatre has hired award-winning playwright Jessica Huang as the organization’s next Playwright-in-Residence following the decades-long tenure of James Still. Huang will serve a three-year appointment for the IRT and will be a part of the Artistic Team, advise on new play development, lead the Young Playwrights in Process program, and represent IRT at various festivals across the country. As a part of her residency, the IRT has commissioned a play from Huang, which will be developed during her time.

“It is with great joy that we welcome Jessica Huang to the IRT as our next Playwright-in-Residence,” Margot Lacy Eccles Artistic Director Benjamin Hanna said. “Jessica’s writing is haunting, soul-stirring, and absolutely gorgeous. Her voice is wholly unique, and we are thrilled to share her groundbreaking and exciting work with our audiences.”

A graduate of Juilliard’s Playwrights Program, Jessica Huang is a playwright, librettist, and a Venturous Playwright Fellow at the Playwrights’ Center, a MacDowell Fellow, Hermitage Fellow and four-time Playwrights’ Center fellow, and has been a member of Ars Nova Play Group, Civilians R&D Group, and Page 73’s Interstate 73. Her work includes The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin (Bernice Stavis Award, and Indiana Premiere at IRT in 2022), Mother of Exiles (Venturous Award, Rosa Parks Playwriting Award, Paul Stephen Lim Playwriting Award), Blended 和 (Harmony): The Kim Loo Sisters (with composer Jacinth Greywoode), and Transmissions in Advance of the Second Great Dying (EMOS Ecodrama prize).

From commissions and world premieres to creating an original television show with WBTV, Huang’s work continues to be developed around the country.

“New York Stage and Film has had the pleasure of supporting the development of Jessica’s work since 2019. With each new story, Jessica has proven time and time again that she is one of the most distinct voices of her generation,” New York Stage and Film’s interim Artistic Director Liz Carlson said. “We are extremely proud to have been a part of her career thus far, and we look forward to watching how she further shapes the canon of American theater with her intelligence, compassion, humor, and theatricality.”

“We have produced two world premieres written by Jessica—Purple Cloud (2015) and Blended 和 (Harmony): The Kim Loo Sisters (2024, music composed by Jacinth Greywoode, co-produced with History Theatre),” Theater Mu said. “For many mixed-race Asian Americans, these productions were the first times they saw themselves onstage, made exponentially more powerful because of Jessica’s ability to weave in magic, love in its complex and purest forms, and characters through whom you can feel the world.”

The IRT first worked with Jessica Huang for its production of The Paper Dreams of Harry Chin in the 2021-2022 Season. The Theatre originally planned to do the play in spring of 2020, and after it was shuttered due to COVID-19, almost the entire cast and design team returned to mount the show two years later.

“I’m so proud and excited to call IRT home for the next few years! I’m a midwestern girl, and the combination of IRT’s personal, human care and celebration of the joy and impact of theater have created the kind of artistic community that feels just like home to me,” Jessica Huang said. “I’m overjoyed that I get to dream into the future with Benjamin Hanna, whose vision and leadership I so admire, and to follow in the footsteps of the incredible James Still, whose artistry and generosity are an inspiration.”

On September 15, Jessica Huang will be participating in the inaugural PlayFest Indy, presented by The New Harmony Project. One of many playwrights taking part in the festival across the city, she will be workshopping her new play, The Birth of the Pill, at the IRT. Reservations are encouraged, and the free reading will be followed by a conversation. More details about PlayFest Indy can be found here.

For more information about the IRT, contact Kerry Barmann, Associate Director of Marketing, at kbarmann@irtlive.com or 317.916.4824.

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ABOUT THE IRT
Founded in 1971, the Indiana Repertory Theatre (IRT) is the largest professional not-for-profit theatre in the state and one of the leading regional theatres in the country. The mission of the Indiana Repertory Theatre is to produce top-quality, professional theatre and related activities, providing experiences that will engage, surprise, challenge, and entertain people throughout their lifetimes, helping us build a vital and vibrant community.

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA): The IRT strives to celebrate and serve the diverse people and cultures that make up our whole community. The IRT is committed to providing access for all; to creating and maintaining an antiracist theatre that is inclusive, safe, and respectful.